Dear Kuwait 340 /
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One thing we do here in Argentina, is that all our 747 F/Os have the P1 captain rating in the aircraft. We trade seats constantly. They fly in the left seat to be PF, and the right seat to be operating as PNF. This brings the proficiency levels one step ahead. When a F/O upgrades to captain (a matter of paycheck) - they have a lot of left seat experience, and can therefore log PIC time when flying PF. There has never been any incident because of that policy.
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Airlines that restrict occupation of the LH seat to captains only, are not preparing their F/Os for an upgrade. We use US/FAA part 121 standards and rules in Argentina. Nothing in these regulations to restrict a F/O to occupy the LH seat. The 747 has fully duplicated controls (including nose wheel steering tiller).
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The PIC is then just selecting which sectors will be flown by the F/O, In my own case, I elect to be the PF when weather conditions dictate, or if dealing with difficult airports. Of all the airlines I have worked for, PanAm for many years, Cargolux, Air Atlanta, ONA/UACI (ACMI with Saudia), I consider the Argentina F/Os to be best in proficiency, because of such policies.
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Fact is that nearly all F/Os we have in the 747 were actually captains on other types of aircraft.
A lot of "4 stripes" in our flight decks... brains, proficiency and experience.
I wish the public knew that fact.
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Happy contrails